better generation

ReDriven 20kW Wind Turbine

This is a specification page. Better Generation do not sell this product.

According to the manufacturer;

The ReDriven 20 kW unit is one of our most popular wind turbine systems. The 20 kW boasts start up wind speeds of 4.4 mph (2.0 meters per second) and produces 20,000 watts per hour at approximately 22 mph (11 m/s). The advanced controller system allows for remote access to monitor power output as well as start and stop the system from anywhere in the world.

Wind turbines

Swept area

The ReDriven 20kW has a blade diameter of 12.00 metres. This means it has a swept area, or capture area of 113.1 square metres. This is all important when comparing wind turbines, since it directly relates to the amount of passing wind energy
the turbine blades can intercept.

ReDriven 20kW power output curve

The graph below shows the power produced (in watts) for the ReDriven 20kW at different wind speeds, based on
data supplied by the manufacturer.

The green line shows the actual output that the wind turbine achieves at the given wind speed,
according to the manufacturers.The dashed line in the graph shows the theoretical maximum energy that this turbine could extract from the wind,
according to Betz's Law (59.3%). At a typical wind speed of 5 m/s, the ReDriven 20kW is extracting
2700 Watts of power from the wind, which is an efficiency of 31.05%.

How efficient is the ReDriven 20kW?

Wind turbines can only convert some of the energy in the wind into electricity. The graph here shows how efficient the
turbine is across the range of wind speeds you might get.

The orange line in the above graph shows the efficiency ranging from 0 to 1. The grey line is the previously mentioned maximum efficiency - The Betz Limit. If this limit is exceeded, the manufacturer's claims are not to be trusted!

While these graphs give an indication of the instantaneous power and efficiencies you might expect from the ReDriven 20kW turbine, working out annual power production is more complex.